Conquered by Love - Part 1 | Pr Raph | May 18, 25

Conquered by Love

Series - “Power in Our Weakness – A Journey Through 2 Corinthians”

Despair of Life

Have you ever despaired of life, like a child overwhelmed by ocean waves, feeling completely drained?

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul is highly vulnerable. He opens up his heart in a very personal way.

2 Corinthians 1:8-11 8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

There are two ways out of despair. 

1. First, remember the grace of God. Stop relying on your. Set your faith in God, not on your cleverness and abilities. Once you experience God’s deliverance and help in times of despair, you will learn to expect His deliverance over and over again. We call this maturity. 
2. The second way is by asking people for prayer. The apostle Paul was trying to gain the Corinthians' respect again, but he was not concerned about what they would think by asking them for prayer. How many people don’t ask for prayer, specific ones, presuming people would think less of them. You asked once, ask again, and keep asking so more and more people can join with you in the deliverance that the Lord would bring. We need to bring prayer back to our moments of despair. That actually speaks of the first aspect of not relying on yourself. Only those who understood grace actually pray because they learned not to depend upon natural resources, but on the Lord alone. Do you pray? It is time to see the power of prayer again in your life and in the lives of others.

We have learned that Paul planted this church, paid them a couple of visits, and sent his associate team to ensure they were firm in the gospel, not only in belief but also in a practical sense.

Reconciliation path

In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul sets the stage for reconciliation with those brothers. Don't be fooled. Reconciliation has a price, a cost of pride that must be broken.

2 Corinthians 2:1-4 For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. 2 For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Paul had previously confronted sin in the Corinthian church. He wrote a letter rather than returning immediately and risking a painful confrontation.

Maybe you should try that too. Some of the endless arguments need a space of respect and later, more thoughful words written down. But what does count is motivation.

Paul’s motivations were love and restoration. He was not trying to assert dominance (“not that we lord it over your faith” - 2 Cor. 1:24) but to work with them for their joy and firmness in the faith.

Colossians 3:18-21 18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

Not afraid of the healing cost

Sometimes, the only way to heal and fix the problem is to face a momentary deeper pain. 

Depending on how you were brought up, you did not learn how to say sorry and acknowledge the mistake. But there is no real change unless one repents. You are already forgiven, but there is no healing unless you confess your mistake in many areas of your life, such as marriage and ministry.

2 Corinthians 7:8-10 8 For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

There is no healing unless you confess.

James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

The "one another” is the hardest aspect that many in our individualistic culture try to avoid. In your “I can fix myself.” Or the “Pastor, mind your own business…” is why much of God’s healing and restoration are not happening in your life and ministry.

Forgiveness is always unfair

Many dismiss the message of grace—God’s unearned and undeserved forgiveness—not because it seems too good to be true. Instead, it is due to the message’s call to action, which aligns with the spirit of forgiveness. People often cling to their resentment and bitterness, leading them to reject the message of grace.

2 Corinthians 2:5-11 5 Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

I used to think that the offender, the person who caused pain, was the guy mentioned in 1 Corinthians who was sleeping with his stepmother (1 Cor. 5:12). However, scholars understand that the matter in 2 Corinthians was much larger. The issue involved a leader, an influential voice, causing division among and resistance against Paul’s message.

Eventually, this person realized the mistake and changed his mind.

repentance (μετάνοια) — a change of mind, heart, and direction that brings about true transformation.

Is forgiveness conditional on repentance? It is not. For some, you have never heard of it before, but you have forgiven us way before we were repentant believers. 

Romans 5:8 “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

2 Corinthians 5:19 “That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

Access to these forgiveness benefits, however, only comes to the humble. If one insists he or she has nothing to be forgiven, that means he or she never came to the conclusion of the offence and trespass, and consequently is still without access to the forgiveness.

Restoration and reintegration to the same position also requires the fruits of repentance: a change and the transformation of habits or practices that brought the pain on the relationship, church or community.

But Paul insists that whatever the case may be, the decision for forgiveness is the defense against Satan’s schemes of bitterness, division and divorce. 

Satan’s designs are to destroy unity. Satan operates through calculated efforts, often exploiting unforgiveness, division, or pride with bitterness.

Hebrews 12:12-15 12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

 When someone repents of wrongdoing, the church must move from discipline to forgiveness and restoration. We follow Christ’s reconciliation appeal:

2 Corinthians 5:20:“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Conquered by love

2 Corinthians 2:12-17 12 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

Troas was an important port city in the northwest corner of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), near the ancient site of Troy. It was a key access point between Asia and Europe.

The Roman triumphal procession included the use of aromatic flowers and incense. The smell of triumph and life was pleasing and victorious to the Roman citizens and soldiers. But for the defeated captives, it was the stench of death, a sensory reminder of their imminent execution or slavery.

Paul pictures God as the victorious general, and himself as a captive being led by Christ, not in defeat, but in witness to Christ’s power.

No matter what, God’s love always prevails.

Romans 8:28 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:38-39 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Faithful ministry is not defined by ease or reception but by obedience to Christ, who leads us as His witnesses to spread the gospel—an aroma that brings life to some and judgment to others.

Our immediate suffering and momentary frustration are not setbacks but still part of Christ’s victory. Even hardships are part of spreading “the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”

Never think that God will waste any opportunity to use your life to bless others. Paul was often eager to access Europe, but something else always came up. He would not get discouraged. God would use him in other ways.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

The same message (gospel) is experienced differently—some receive it as the scent of death (judgment), others as the scent of life (salvation).

We are part of the cosmic drama in which Christ is the conquering King, and the message we carry can be a sweet fragrance of life or fatal and sobering for others, depending entirely on the spiritual posture of the hearer.

John 12:48: “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”

Rejection of His grace is itself a form of judgment—those who refuse His words are not merely neutral; they are already under judgment because the truth has been given and refused.